Chapter 240 - 117 Occasionally Online, Old Meng’s Message (5k)

Wen Yan saw the Sparrow Cat’s pupils dilate, its eyes wide as marbles, and instantly knew this guy was still hung up on its ancestor’s remains—so much so that it was basically engraved on its brain.

"What’s so special about your ancestor’s body? Why are you so obsessed with it?"

"It’ll make me stronger, restore my ancestor’s glory!"

"What glory?"

"It’s... it’s..." Sparrow Cat froze, its little brain revving so fast it was about to overheat, but it still couldn’t come up with an answer.

"Alright, alright, next time I get a chance, I’ll fetch what you want. If I’d known earlier, I would’ve brought it this time—at least I’d be sure it’s useful."

Wen Yan soothed the Sparrow Cat, just in case the already-not-so-bright critter fried its brains even further.

He really was telling the truth. Of the three things he brought out this time, he didn’t even know exactly what any of them did. He just figured that after all that effort, he couldn’t let the opportunity go to waste, so he grabbed whichever looked the most valuable.

If he’d had a definite target, of course he would’ve gone for it straight away.

"So, should we look for a target first?" Sparrow Cat was raring to go.

Wen Yan shot it a sideways glance.

"Go ahead, knock yourself out, whoever you want to go after, be my guest. I promise I won’t stop you. Even if you want to die inside the Scorching Sun Department’s warehouse, I’m happy to oblige."

The Sparrow Cat’s ears instantly flattened like airplane wings. It gave a dry chuckle.

"It’s not my fault, blame that Fake Mo Zhicheng!"

Wen Yan ignored the cat. He started pondering about the shelves—how best to use them.

The trial with the Sparrow Cat probably wasn’t universal. He’d put the Little Zombie up there and nothing happened—which really didn’t prove much.

The Little Zombie wasn’t exactly universal either. He wasn’t even sure if the Little Zombie was alive, dead, or stuck in between—neither alive nor dead.

Guess he’d have to keep testing things.

Thinking it over, he stepped out the back door and knocked on Old Zhao’s family door.

The door opened, and the five brothers poked out half their heads, all staring at Wen Yan, speaking in perfect unison.

"Time to eat?"

"Uh, yeah, you guys all come over for dinner. Where’s Old Zhao?"

With one blink, all five vanished. Not even two seconds later, the five brothers appeared at the door, dragging a completely baffled Old Zhao with them.

"Hey Old Zhao, come over for dinner later. Also, I need to borrow your head for a sec."

"Ah..."

Old Zhao let out a sound, and then his head actually detached from his body, which the five brothers stuffed straight into Wen Yan’s hands.

"Don’t be so formal with us."

"Look at our relationship."

"Old Zhao’s a great guy, he’ll be happy to help."

"If you didn’t grab it directly, you must be looking down on Old Zhao."

"Looking down on Old Zhao makes him sad—you’ll owe us two plates of white-cut chicken."

Wen Yan looked at Old Zhao’s head and could only laugh and cry.

"Alright, fine, I’ll get you guys another chicken later. How about salt-baked chicken?"

"Eat! We’re not picky!" the five brothers yelled in unison.

"Great, remember to come later."

Wen Yan carried Old Zhao’s head off, Old Zhao still thoroughly confused.

"Uh, what are you doing?"

"I just got a wondrous item, need you to help test it out. I’ve already tested it with a demon, and with a zombie."

Down in the basement, Wen Yan put Old Zhao’s head on the shelves and waited for a while, but still saw no reaction.

Wen Yan was a bit disappointed.

He ordered the food first, then went to cook some rice, and afterward wandered next door. The silly kid was clearly still up, with big eyes wide open, waving his little hands in the air as if locked in a fierce psychological battle with nothing.

Wen Yan greeted Jia Jinfeng, then scooped up the silly kid and took him home.

Seeing the kid, clueless as ever, eyes wide and not knowing what to look at, Wen Yan put him on the shelves.

He waited several seconds, but still—nothing happened. Wen Yan just gave up entirely.

Looks like living things really don’t work. Putting himself on didn’t work; placing others on didn’t work either.

By living thing, it should mean anything under "demon, devil, monster, human"—all included.

But he couldn’t figure out why it worked for the Sparrow Cat when someone else put it up there, but not when it went up on its own.

Probably the Sparrow Cat was special—so its results weren’t very reliable as a reference.

If living things won’t work, then "the item placed on the shelf will reveal where the one who most desires it is" is probably not a general rule.

Maybe it’s more like—the origin place of the item placed on the shelf, or where it rightly belongs. That guess seems more solid.

He opened his phone and checked the video from before. In the passageway lit by the Everbright Lamp: the designs on the wall, the bluish-grey glow after the candle was lit, the color of the bricks and floor. Most importantly, that unique atmosphere.

Wen Yan could tell at a glance—this underground corridor, or rather, this typical tomb passageway, was definitely inside Guanzhong Commandery.

Because Wen Yan had seen plenty like it in open-access ruins around Guanzhong Commandery. The style in the video was basically identical.

This even matched up with the Everbright Lamp’s origin story.

But the video through the Stone Sculpture’s window didn’t reveal much about the location. At best, Wen Yan could guess roughly by the angle of the moonlight shining in, but to get more specific, he’d need a real expert to judge.

Wen Yan put the Stone Sculpture on the shelves, then set the Everbright Lamp on top too. Sure enough, the newly opened window vanished immediately.

You could only open one window at a time.

Back in the first floor living room, Sparrow Cat and Little Zombie were sprawled next to the kid. Sparrow Cat kept sniffing into the air, while Little Zombie held up a phone, watching videos with the kid.

After a while, the two even snapped a couple selfies—click, click—together.